One of the best things the Carolina Panthers do in preparation for the season is release their series of small documentaries called “Blueprint.” These go behind-the-scenes into their offseason decision making process like a small version of Hard Knocks, and in the first episode of the new season we learned something staggering.
There was a lot of speculation about whether or not the Panthers would trade back from No. 8 in the draft, with the assumption being that a team would move up to grab a quarterback. Instead we learned that GM Dan Morgan was in deep talks with the Los Angeles Rams, who wanted to move up and select Tetairoa McMillan, who the Panthers ended up taking with their pick after staying put.
This comes from reading between the lines of this episode. Morgan and Brandt Tillis, VP of Football Operations both acknowledge that the Rams wanted “their guy,” referring to McMillan — with Carolina already saying they were going receiver, because they felt there was enough depth at defensive end to shore up that position later in the draft.
Furthermore, while we don’t know the exact offer the Rams had on the table, we can work it out. The best offer Snead gave the Panthers was “two points in their favor,” referring to the draft pick value chart — which Morgan said wasn’t enough to move off the No. 8 pick.
Every team uses different charts, and there’s also a rough cheat sheet supplied by league offices. For a deal to only be two points apart is extremely close though, and we can work out what that would have entailed.
Rams receive
- 1st round, No. 8 overall (406 points)
- 5th round, No. 163 overall (10 points)
Panthers receive
- 1st round, No. 26 overall (223 points)
- 2026 2nd round pick (126 points)
- 3rd round, No. 90 overall (45 points)
- 4th round, No. 127 overall (20 points)
This gets us to a magic numbers where the Rams receive 416 points of total value, and Carolina receives 414 points — exactly the two point difference mentioned in “Blueprint.” Morgan mentions that in order to move off No. 8 and lose McMillan the Rams would need to “blow him away,” and submits a counter offer which is rejected with less than two minutes on the clock.
I believe Carolina’s offer was to take No. 26 and a 2026 1st round pick — which would have represented about a 110 point swing in the Panthers’ favor, precisely the kind of “blow me away” deal they were looking for.
Ultimately the Rams didn’t get the receiver they wanted. Carolina did. However, Los Angeles still got phenomenal value by flipping their No. 26 pick to the Falcons for a future 1st, which will likely be higher than where they would pick next year anyway.
It’s just fascinating to see how close deals like this are to getting done, even if they never materialize.
